Improvement



UNITED STATES PATENT EEICE.

LEONARD PHLEGER, OF TAMAQUA, PENNSYLVANIA.

HVIPROVEIVIENT IN STEAM-BOILERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. lAOS, dated March 11,1856.

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, LEONARD PHLEGER, of Tamaqua, in the State ofPennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Locomotiveand other Boilers; and I do hereby declare that the following isv afull, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being` had tothe accompanying drawings, making a part of this specification, inwhich- Figure l represents a vertical transverse section of a locomotivewith my improvement; Fig. 2, a vertical longitudinal section of thesame. P

In Fig. 2, F represents the furnace; B, the grate-bars; S and S', thesteam-chamber; D, the steam-dome. T T' T T', te., represent the tubesthrough vwhich the smoke and heat pass. H represents the smoke-chamber.I represents a front water-space; K, a water-bottom; L L', a water tableor bottom communicating with the water-bottom K by the arch or concavewater-space a b c. M N is awater-back extending down from thecrown-sheet of the boiler. deis a central tube extending u p from thewater-table L L and communicating with the water-back M N. f g and f' gare two vertical tubes or passages extending from the top or the arch orconcave water-space a b c t-o the crown-sheet of the boiler. X is theaxle; O, the front'driving-wheel of the locomotive.

The nature of my improvement consists, first, in the construction oflocomotive-boilers with a concave or arched water-space, as at d b c,under which the axle X of the drivingwheel revolves; secondly, in theremoval of the extremities T T T of the tubes farther from the back ofthe furnace F than they are ordinarily placed, and in the interp ositionof a cavity orreceptacle, C E, with a waterbottom, L L, to consumethefuel and catch refuse ashes carried by the flame and smoke from thefurnace, which would otherwise pass into and through the tubes T T' T Tinto the smokebox, and, burning there, would eventually destroy thesmoke-box I-I, as now takes place in ordinary boilers.

To enable others skilledin the art to make and use my improvemen t, Iproceed to describe its construction and operation in detail.

F, Fig. 2, is the furnace, of about the ordinary length, breadth, andAdepth of the furnace of a coal-burning locomotive-say, for atwentysix-ton engine, about five feet two inches long', thirty-nineinches wide, and about four feet from the grate to the crown-sheet ofthe boiler. In front of the furnace I place the ordinary water-space, I,and a water-bottom, K. At the back of the furnace I place an archedwater-space, c b c, which begins at the water-bottom K and extends upabout thirty inches to the crown b, and then passes down and connectswith another water table or bottom, L L. This arched water-space is madeof two parallel sheets of boiler-iron, and is of the same width as theback of the furnace. An aperture at C is left in this arched waterspacein orderto apply the blast or blower tube. This arched water-space mustbe made sufficiently high and left open below, so as -to permit the axleX to be placed up and to revolve under it, and so that the boiler may bethus suspended between the drivers and may hang down near to the track.Thus much of the lateral oscillation of the locomotive and consequentwear and tear of the rail is avoided.

For an engine of twenty-six tons I make my arched water-space a b c fromtwo to three inches between the plates, and I make the arch itself aboutsixteen inches across, varying, of course, their dimensions somewhatwith the size of the engine. A frame extends outside of the boiler, towhich the boxes of the axle are attached. From the crown of the archedwater-space at h two vertical tubes, f g and f g', of about two inchesdiameter, extend, which make a communicating passage for the water fromthe arched water-space up through the crown-sheet of the boiler. By thisarrangement the water can circulate from the waterbottom up through thearch to the crown of the furnace. I also extend a water-back, N

M, (of from four to six inches thickness and of the whole width of thefurnace,) down from the crown-sheet. It extends about one-half the depthof the receptacle E E. This waterspace is about fourteen inches from thearched water-space and makes an angle of ninety degrees or one hundreddegrees with the crownsheet, as shown in Fig. 2. A central tube, d e,extends from the water-bottom L L' up to the lower extremity of thewater-space M N,

and thus affords a passage for the water to circulate from theWater-bottom at L L up to the crown. The ordinary boiler-tubes, T T T Tare about two feet shorter in my boiler than in most boilers, and thereis a space thus left between the Water-space e d and the opening of thetubes T T T, &c. The water-back N M acts in connection with the archedWaterspace a b c, and reverberates the flame and particles of fuel downagainst the Water bottom or table L L. The heat and flame afterward riseand pass through the tubes T T T T. By this arrangement the intensity ofthe flame is not thrown against the extremities of the tubes as isordinarily done, and they are not burned oit and destroyed. At the sametime a portion of the unconsumed solid particles of fuel Will burn onthe Water-table L L and the ashes and particles of fuel will bedeposited there instead of passing through the tubes T T T T andclogging them up, or depositing in the smoke-box Il and burning up thesmoke-box.

A small door is placed at 71 so that the solid particles of ashes orfuel thrown down upon the Water table or bottom L L and collecting therecan be removed.

The advantages of my improved arrangement of locomotive-boiler are thatby the combined action of the arched Water-space a b c,

the water-space M N, and the Water-table L L the iiamc and particles offuel and ashes from the furnace are reverberated down upon theWater-table L L', instead of being thrown against the mouth of the tubesT T, 85e, the tubes are not so soon destroyed, and they are not soliable to be clogged up, neither is there such an accumulation ofburning particles of fuel in the smoke-chamber H. By this arrangement,also, the boiler of the locomotive may be suspended much nearer theground and the Wheels or axle can, when desired, be removed with asgreat facility as at present.

rA portion of m'y improvement may be applied to steamboat or otherboilers, if desired.

Having thus described my improvements, what I claim, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

l. The arrangement of the arched Waterspace ca b c, so that the boilermay be suspended near to the track, in the manner and for the purposessubstantially as hereinbeforc described.

2. The arrangement of the arched Waten space a b c, the Water-space N M,and the water-table L L', in combination, so that the flame and heatWill be reverberated, in the manner and for the purpose substantially ashereinbefore described.

LEONARD PHLEGER.

Vitn esses:

FRANCIS O. CONNOR, t STEPHEN H. SIMMONS.

